Crown seeks life term for Mayor Rob Ford’s former brother-in-law

Ennio Stirpe was convicted of attempted murder for a knife attack that left a Vaughan woman blind in one eye.

Ennio Stirpe as he appeared in court, with Justice Michelle Fuerst and defence lawyer David Steinberg.

By:Peter EdwardsStaff Reporter, Published on Thu Jan 19 2012

Mayor Rob Ford’s former brother-in-law Ennio Stirpe deserves a life term in prison after being convicted of attempted murder for a knife attack that left a Vaughan woman blind in one eye, an assistant Crown attorney told Newmarket court.

Scott, who has prosecuted cases for 18 years, said that it’s only through “the grace of God” that Stirpe’s victim, Angela Fantauzzi, was not killed when he beat and stabbed her repeatedly in his basement apartment in October 2009.

Defense lawyer David Steinberg called for a term of 10 to 14 years for Stirpe, 61, who was on parole for manslaughter at the time of the attack on Fantauzzi.

Steinberg noted that Stirpe and Fantauzzi both had serious drug additions, and acknowledged that Stirpe’s parole officer advised that he avoid her.

Steinberg said Stirpe planned to quietly enjoy the company of his two grandchildren when he was freed from prison on mandatory release in October 2008, after being convicted of manslaughter for killing his ex-wife Kathy Ford’s lover in her home.

Stirpe served eight years in prison for shooting Michael Kiklas, Kathy Ford’s boyfriend, to death with a shotgun.

“He had a determination when he came out to lead a quiet life,” Steinberg said of his client, who has a lengthy criminal record for robbery and drug offences as well as a pilot’s licence and advanced skills in aircraft mechanics.

Stirpe had little to say in court on Thursday when the judge asked him if he wanted to speak.

“I want to thank the courts for their time,” Stirpe said in a soft voice. “They’ve all been very good to me … so thank you.”

Scott told court that Angela Fantauzzi was a good friend of Kathy Ford. “That’s how they met, and that was almost 20 years ago.”

Steinberg suggested that Stirpe was afraid of Kiklas when Stirpe confronted Kathy Ford in her home in the middle of the night in 1998, trying to win her back.

“She (Kathy Ford) had taken up with somebody who was a biker, with all that that entails,” Steinberg told court.

In his latest trial, Newmarket court heard that Fantauzzi was stabbed and slashed repeatedly inside his basement apartment on Harmony Rd. in Vaughan.

One knife was driven into her so deeply it almost reached her back and left her intestines spilling out.

Another knife thrust blinded her in one eye.

At the time of his statutory release from prison, former Vaughan mayor Linda Jackson declared the justice system had “failed the community” by freeing Stirpe to serve the final third of his sentence in the community. Statutory release can be withheld if a prisoner is ruled likely to commit an offence causing harm or death, a serious drug offence or a sex crime against a child.

In 1991, Stirpe walked away from a halfway house in Hamilton, breaking parole after being sentenced to 33 months in custody for armed robbery, breaking and entering and fraud.

At the time, he told a reporter that he wanted to patch up his relationship with the mother of his daughter.